You know, considering
just how unappreciated FLO TV's mobile television services are here in the US of A, you'd think the company would do its best to keep the losses at bay. For whatever reason, suits at the outfit have it in mind that the answer to their woes isn't to throw in mobile TV gratis and find revenue streams from other sources, but to produce a
dedicated TV that will only appeal to those looking to actually carry
more portable devices with them. Brilliant, no? The
oft-rumored FLO TV Personal Television finally got official tonight, with an aim to bring live and time-shifted content directly to the 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen for up to five straight hours on a single charge. To its credit, it weighs just 5 ounces and features an integrated kickstand and stereo speakers, but with a $249.99 price tag and a required $8.99 monthly plan (or more, if you're not a fan of locking yourself into an absurd 3-year contract), we can't exactly see this thing selling well. Or at all, really.
posted October 6th 2009 11:52PM
Or instead of paying a monthly fee for this, you could just buy a portable digital TV. Most people can wait until they get to their destination to watch TV though.
Can't see much of a reason for this if you have an unlimited data plan and a Slingbox app on your phone.
i will give it a month before this thing folds, and i dont mean the kickstand
$574 total price for 3 months then.
years*
...It's called DVR. Until TiVo says otherwise, that is.
All u need to know FLO TV: http://www.70news.com/2009/10/07/flo-tv-unveils-its-new-one-of-a-kind-digital-handheld-television/
meh i like the tv anywhere idea. But to shove it into another device i would have to carry? no thanks. Make it some kind of program or ipod/iphone app. Something i could use with another device pretty much than ya i would probably pay $10/month. Being a college student i'm never at home. My bookbag is literally full of laptop accessories..i dont want to have to cram that extra device in there and have another thing to remember to charge >
Long story short they can't simply "make an app". FloTV requires special hardware, which is why it's only so far found on a few Samsung phones and that one Verizon phone incoming.
I've seen it in action on an Eternity, and it's pretty damn nice. It's expensive, but the quality is crystal clear with no lag whatsoever, which is more than can be said by internet-based television programs. Though it's channel selection is small, they're all channels that are non-existent on over-the-air broadcasts.
I'd buy this personal TV if the monthly fee was in half or non-existent at all. Take a page from Peek offering lifetime service.
Monthly plan on a 3-year contract? Weird... I didn't know Rogers sold portable TV's.
*points at FLO TV*
Ha Ha
I'll wait until SlingPlayer Mobile for iPhone gets approved over AT&T's 3G network. If necessary, a dedicated cable box at $6/month plugged into a Slingbox will save me $250 plus at least $2.50/month over the FLO TV, and I'll have a hell of a lot more channels to boot.
Uhm
You know, such a device is actually tempting in the boonies, where you can't get cable or most kinds of high-speed internet, or even a good terrestrial antenna signal. Three years of this is actually cheaper than six months of good cable television service. However, if you couldn't hook it up to a real television set, that'd be a deal killer.
Flo TV? Are you kidding me? Kiss my ass, they should make that thing free and pay me to use it.
Flo TV? Are you kidding me? Kiss my grits...
FTFY
Another good idea shot down by horrible horrible execution.
I have been wanting to ditch Dish Network for a while now because 95% of what I watch is on local stations, but I don't want to give up ESPN. If this Flo TV device had any kind of video output, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I'd pay $9/ per month just for ESPN, beats paying a dish or cable subscription just to have ESPN.
Qualcomm needs to understand the concept of "sunk costs." They need to shut down Media FLO and move on with their lives instead of throwing more bad money after bad. This is their final act of desperation.
This would be a lot better if it had all the major networks on it. I've had phones with FloTV on it before and found it to be a boon when the kids got cranky waiting for a table at a restaurant or an appointment at a doctor's office. Since the iPhone doesn't have this capability, I wouldn't have an issue buying one of these and paying the $9 monthly fee to keep it in the glove compartment or something. The big question for me is the battery life.
could u use it on a plane
@jes No, because it gets its signal from cell phone towers.